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Awards Profile: Oliver
Stone's W
By Johnny
Alba
George W. Bush gets his
'first' Hollywood treatment in Oliver Stone's W
From the director of
Nixon and the writer of, ehem, Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story;
President George W. Bush’s life in the White House is set to hit
theaters next year (release date to be confirmed) whether you like it or
not.
Described as a
sympathetic look at the 43rd President of the United States
of America (just like 2006’s The Queen), the Oliver Stone
biopic is already on its way to a mixed audience reaction:
In typical Stone fashion, casting is
always more substance than style-oriented: W. to be played by
recent A-lister Josh Brolin? (well, he certainly can pull off the
Texan accent) but what about Thandie Newton as Condoleezza
Rice or the unproven Elizabeth Banks as first lady Laura?
Stone clearly knows what he is aiming
at: the screenplay by little known writer Stanley Weiser (I can’t
judge him; Akiva Goldsman went from Batman & Robin to the
Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind) has gained the attention of a
strong cast that also includes Ellen Burstyn and James
Cromwell as the first Bush couple in office and Jeffrey
Wright and Ioan Gruffudd as Colin Powell and Tony
Blair respectively (we can expect Mary Kate and Ashley
to sign up as the Bush girls anytime soon).
But before we get judgmental, let’s take a
look at Stone’s past success with politically-charged stories:
JFK earned eight Oscar nominations and went on to win two of them
(Cinematography, Editing); it also earned Stone a Golden Globe
trophy and several key precursor nominations back in 1991. Four years
later, Nixon opened to mostly favorable reviews and tons of
controversy. The film depicted Nixon as a respectable, but flawed
individual, and America did not like it.
Despite being a financial disappointment,
Nixon did receive four Oscar nominations (including one for
Anthony Hopkins as the infamous president and one for a then unknown
Joan Allen as his wife).
Stone has an admirable filmography,
even if the last decade has proven even him can have a flop or two (Alexander).
With W, Stone obviously wants to tell a different side of
the Bush story and while the film is probably going to do very
limited business; we cannot count it out as possible awards contender.
Will 'W' get AMPAS' support? Discuss it here.
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